Today we think of Bingham County as solidly Mormon (60 percent) who predictably vote Republican, but the area once was mostly non-LDS, with those LDS members before the County’s 1885 inception (when it was still a part of Oneida) voting Democratic as a nearly unanimous bloc, an un-American trend (to detractors) that exacerbated anti-Mormon sentiment and lead to the County’s creation. At that time, Republican-leaning portions of the state sought to eliminate Democratic influence exerted in southeastern Idaho areas comprised primarily of Mormons, using every trick in the book to stifle the Church's power.
The territory of Idaho was established in 1863 as a result of mining booms, its citizens tending toward the Democratic party in its early years. Already in 1860, Mormons—under the direction of Brigham Young—had begun to colonize southeast Idaho, having 31 settlements by 1877. The overpopulation of the Salt Lake area pushed members into southeast Idaho and southwest Wyoming (Star Valley in particular), sometimes under direct Church instruction, with the last official colonization effort hitting the Big Horn Basin in the early twentieth century. When Brigham Young died, Mormon settlements had reached as far as Oakley to the west and Rexburg to the north in Idaho (Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. XXI, 153, No. 4, Mormonism in Idaho Politics, 1880-1890 Grenville H. Gibbs).
Since the Mormon colonies were concentrated and separated from other populations, the Church bishopric often operated as the officiating body and judge. Non-Mormons, politically split, resented this fusion of religion and politics. Bear Lake, Oneida and Cassia areas sent Mormon democrats to the legislature, tipping the political balance as the 1880’s began.
Polygamy became the contesting issue, particularly in Oneida County in 1880. The practice was widely detested, so much so that when Brigham Young “came out” as a polygamist, conversion numbers in Britain shrank by eighty percent. Tolerance that was otherwise present turned to animosity with the mention of polygamy, providing an in-road for political sway.
A rumor circulated that a “Bishop Fisher”, acting as a census enumerator, falsified Blackfoot area precinct population (still in Oneida County) totals to increase numbers and allow fake voting to favor Democratic (Mormon) candidates. Thus spurred, Oneida anti-Mormons created the Independent Party in October to combat the perceived insidious Mormon influence. Additionally, a Boise paper charged that George Cannon, an LDS official, had ordered Church members to vote for a democratic slate, infuriating those against state-church separation. In December, the legislature passed anti-polygamy laws that added cohabitation as proof of polygamous behavior. Prior laws were ineffective as wives didn’t have to testify against their husbands in polygamy trials, resulting in very few convictions.
Enter twenty nine-year old Fred DuBois, whose brother Jesse was a physician at Fort Hall and whose father was a friend to Abraham Lincoln, a prominent Republican. Dubois became a Marshal and started anti-Mormon action, gaining clout in 1882, when Congress passed the Edmunds Act to give power to prosecute cohabitators as polygamists and prevent them from voting, holding office, or serving on juries in polygamy trials. Previously, convictions were hard to get, but now there would be no pushback from jurors believing in the polygamy's sanctity. If a man visited a woman in his town with the same name, if he allowed her to charge groceries on his account, or if she couldn’t prove parentage of her children, conviction was possible (Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. XXI, 153, No. 4, Mormonism in Idaho Politics, 1880-1890 Grenville H. Gibbs).
In DuBois’ words: “(We) were not nearly so much opposed to polygamy as…to the political domination of the Church. We realized, however, that we could not make those who did not come in contact with it, understand what this political domination meant. We made use of polygamy in consequence as our great weapon of offense and to gain recruits to our standard. There was a universal detestation of polygamy, and inasmuch as the Mormons openly defended it we were given a very effective weapon with which to attack.” (Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. XXI, 153, No. 4, Mormonism in Idaho Politics, 1880-1890 Grenville H. Gibbs)
Since only convicted polygamists were prevented from voting, the 1882 election went on as normal, but anti-Mormon sentiment gained during the next election cycle. Dubois pursued “polygs”, giving fees and expense accounts to witnesses against them. Forty-five Bingham County men served time in the State Penitentiary for cohabitation in the years 1885-1890, including Rufus Wright, who homesteaded land near where the McTucker Pond road now lies, and L.D. Wilson of Riverside.
The Independent party moved into the Republican party, and William E, Wheeler from Blackfoot (he was the Blackfoot Register publisher), H.O. Harkness from the Portneuf area, and an Oxford merchant named H.M. Bennett, were prominent in the political activity, as was H.W. Smith, a lawyer who left the Democratic Party because of Mormon domination. In October of 1884 the Independents formed the Anti-Mormon party of Oneida County (Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. XXI, 153, No. 4, Mormonism in Idaho Politics, 1880-1890 Grenville H. Gibbs), successfully seeking to split the county, the next legislature breaking it up to form a much smaller Oneida County, its largest portion broken off to form Bingham County, which extended to the Montana border.
Accusations of ballot stuffing, particularly by the Dubois faction, ran rampant in Oneida County, with the Board of Canvassers going into hiding to avoid certifying the election in favor of Republicans, but a new Board was put in place by the anti-Mormon governor. A group of men including Harkness, Smith and Bennett got into the auditor’s office and, by their account, peaceably persuaded the election’s certification for their candidates, and by the auditor’s account, was persuaded to do so at gunpoint (Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. XXI, 153, No. 4, Mormonism in Idaho Politics, 1880-1890 Grenville H. Gibbs). Two seats of delegates appeared at the legislature, but the anti-Mormons were not unseated.
In 1885 the new legislature passed the “Idaho Test Oath” which prevented anyone believing in polygamy from voting, which kept Mormons out of the booth. The law remained on the books until 1982. Dubois represented Idaho in Congress when it was admitted to the Union in 1890, with the Mormon Church issuing the “Manifesto” that ended polygamy as a doctrine the same year.
(Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. XXI, 153, No. 4, Mormonism in Idaho Politics, 1880-1890 Grenville H. Gibbs)
Comments